Right to Remain Silent
by Little Gem Magnolia
Summary: He was leaving and he wouldn't be back. They'd never see each other again and, if by chance they did, they'd be on opposing sides. But before that time came, before they said good-bye, he needed to know one thing: Why? [ParaSnake if you squint.]


_Right to Remain Silent_

Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Gear Solid or any of the characters.

Summary: He was leaving and he wouldn't be back. They'd never see each other again and, if by chance they did, they'd be on opposing sides. But before that time came, before they said good-bye, he needed to know one thing: Why?

Author's Note: This is my first MGS fic so please be gentle. This takes place in late 1972 or maybe early 1973 _just before _Big Boss leaves the Patriots after finding out about them cloning him. (This also assumes that Big Boss didn't find out about the project until after EVA had given birth to Liquid and Solid.) I've also decided to use Jane as Para-Medic's real first name in this. (And yes, that's a nod to the 'Jane Doe' scene from Snake Eater.)

On a side note, it is never stated just what battle or fight landed Big Boss in a coma in 1972 so I am taking liberties with that and have come to my own conclusion by process of elimination and my scant knowledge of history.

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She knew he was there even before he spoke. He was angry, she could tell without looking.

She just hoped he'd understand.

"What is this?" he growled out, throwing a folder on her desk.

So much for understanding.

"It's a folder," she began in a monotone that was so unlike her usual, upbeat lilt.

A heavy hand slammed down on the desk right in the middle of the folder and she flinched but didn't raise her head to look at him. She couldn't.

"I know it's a folder," he grit out between clenched teeth. "I'm talking about the papers inside the folder...Project _Les Enfants Terribles_. What about that?" He paused, eyes softening from anger into something decidedly more heartbroken. "Why?"

Green eyes rose to meet his then and she laughed bitterly, knowing that he could see her tears. "Why?" she choked out. "What choice did I have?"

A thick eyebrow rose and he patiently motioned for her to continue.

Sighing, she leant back in her chair and ran a hand through her hair in preparation. She hadn't told anyone about what happened a year ago when Zero had first proposed the idea of cloning Big Boss to her.

Propose. Ha! That was a laugh. Things now would be so much easier had _Les Enfants Terribles _been an option. As it was, the project had been a demand; she'd had no choice but to comply.

To this day, the only people who knew about what happened in her lab that day were Zero, Ocelot and herself. From the determination in Big Boss' eyes, though, she could tell that a fourth person would be added to the ranks of secrecy today.

"Zero has been watching you since the formation of the Patriots. He believes that you're not as loyal to the cause as you have been in the past." She paused. "It frightens him."

Chancing a glance at her companion, she took in his steely blue gaze for a moment before continuing. "It frightens him so much that, after you had that accident in Loc Ninh, he ordered me to take the necessary samples from you to-"

"To clone me," he cut in angrily.

"No, to give the Patriots an heir."

The look he gave her was pricelessly clueless and she took that as a signal to continue.

"You've become a hero. America looks to you like a God. You're part of the reason the government approved of the formation of the Patriots in the first place. If we lost you, the perfect soldier, without any assurances to a hero of the future, this entire thing could blow up in our faces." Another pause. "More specifically, Zero's."

"I don't think I understand..." He began but she shook her head to stop him.

"You're infertile, therefore incapable of giving America the perfect heir yourself. So in an effort to continue the hero legacy, Zero settled for the next best thing: genetic cloning." She pushed her chair back and stood then, calmly walking around her desk to stand in front of him even as her eyes still shone with unshed tears. "And so the sons of Big Boss were born."

He scoffed and turned away from her. "They're not children. They're humans created in a test-tube. They're possessions of the government; pawns to an evil world."

She shook her head and touched his arm, bringing him back around to face her. "No, they are children in every sense of the word. They have a father, a mother and were given birth to by way of a surrogate." Dropping her head to her free hand, she rubbed her forehead before continuing. "I held them as they cried in their first minutes, John; they are most definitely children. Vulnerable, tiny babies created under sinister intentions but they _are_ children none the less."

He let out a growl of frustration and shook off her hand. "You sound so convinced yet you say you had no choice. I don't believe you."

"Believe what you want but the fact of the matter is that they're here now and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Those children are the future of the battlefield. The future of America."

"They're an abomination. They shouldn't even exist. You can't mass produce people, Jane. It's wrong." He paused and shook his head. "How could you do this to me?"

Despite the venom in his tone, he looked so vulnerable; just like the tiny babies his genes had produced. She felt terrible but it wasn't as though she could do anything to change it now.

"You knew how I felt about cloning and you went behind my back and did this anyway, I just don't understand." And in a fit of rage, he turned and cleared her desk with one violent swipe of his hand.

"It was unavoidable, John. Zero laid his commands and I followed, it's as simple as that. I cannot deny him, he is my superior."

Blue eyes studied her hunched, defeated form and he suddenly longed to know everything that happened while he was in a coma. She was hiding something, he knew.

"Whatever it is you can tell me," he continued, voice softer than before as he took a cautious step toward her. "If he's threatening you-"

She shook her head, flinching away from him. "What's done is done. I'm the bad guy, just blame me. It's easier that way."

He opened his mouth to argue with her, to demand the whole truth, but her resigned expression stopped him. He couldn't save her if she was content with her fate, with whatever horrors Zero had in store for her.

And Zero _would_ make her suffer.

He'd known the man long enough to know that, once he had someone under his thumb, he wouldn't let up until total and complete submission was achieved. Soon, the spirited woman he affectionately knew as Para-Medic would be gone entirely and in her place would be someone he wouldn't recognize. Once he left the Patriots, and he _would_ leave, Zero would take out his frustrations on those remaining and Para-Medic would no doubt receive the brunt of punishment.

Heaving a sigh, he tried one more time to sway her, make her see reason. He could _help_ her.

She just shook her head sadly and shooed him away with a careless gesture. She had dug her own grave and now it was time for her to put it to use.

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